Little Jack
by raven2547
Summary: A fight with Pitch leaves all the guardians a little problem to temporarily keep them company... and Jack's turn has come up. Tooth finds him after a couple of days missing, and he's different. Wonderful art cover done by: Katfosel. Thank you so much!
1. Lost and Found

**you people invigorated me with all your reviews, so i'm trying a chapter story for the third time in my writing experience. the first two, only one of them turned out well so we'll see how this goes.**

**beware: i am KIND OF slow at updating stories. i try to do it once every couple of days, but you never know when i'll fall asleep lol.**

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Tooth flew across the lightly frosted ground, searching for the wily spirit of winter. Though she was going slowly, not in a rush it seemed, she was actually very worried because they had gotten out of a fight with Pitch nearly a month ago. The nightmare king had hit them all with something, but it depended on what and to who it was done. She herself had gotten a pretty bad case of mites, resulting in her looking a little bald. North had a few weeks worth of lactose intolerance as well as an allergy to chocolate, Sandy developed nearsightedness briefly, and Bunny had went colorblind a week before Easter. Since everyone else had had their turn, and they hadn't seen Jack in a couple of days, she and the other guardians figured he must've been hit with his problem and either thought he could handle it, was too embarrassed, or was debilitated from it.

Toothiana hoped it wasn't the last one.

After flying through most of Egypt (and why had she looked there? Really? A desert? Smart move...), the fairy made a u-turn and curved across the globe toward Jack's hometown of Burgess. North had already searched it, as had all the others, but she had yet to look. She had that feeling everyone gets when you send somebody else to do a job and you feel like they didn't do it right.

Needless to say, in minutes, thanks to the wind, she was hovering over the town of Burgess and fluttering towards Jack's pond. The white-haired boy was nowhere in sight, sadly. The pond was frozen solid, though, which meant that Jack had been around at some point in the last few days. Tooth sighed and rested her teal bottom feathers on a large boulder. Huffing, she buried her face in her arms and muttered about stupid young boys not knowing what's good for them.

"You're really pretty."

Toothiana's head snapped up, staring at a bundled up little boy. His entire upper body and the majority of his head, save his face, were covered by a blue pull over and hood while his lower half seemed to be lacking a bit of coverage in the knees... and he wasn't wearing shoes. The guardian nervously looked over the pale little boy in front of her.

"Whatsa matter? Cat got your tongue?" The toddler, because that's all he could be, really, pressed his hands against his mouth to stifle familiar sounding giggles.

"Why're you cryin', anyway? Was somebody mean about your feathers, cause I like them but you shouldn't care what mean people say about you because you're really really pretty," The little boy continued on, his speech a little stuttering and slow going like a lot of little kids', oblivious to his conversation partner's lack of participation. Tooth pressed her hand to her mouth and watched the boy skate away on the frozen pond.

"Hey, what's your name, sweetheart?" Little boys were all the same, a pet name could freeze them in their tracks if you said it the right way. The boy, who she was pretty certain she already knew his name, bashfully ducked his head and giggled, turning a light purple. Really she would have laughed if she could breathe right now.

"Jackie," he twisted his foot on an errant, frozen rock with the toe of his shoe.

Not surprised, Tooth extended her hand and watched him take it and pull himself closer, "My name is Toothiana. Do you know who I am?"

'Jackie' adorably shook his head, a slight breeze tickling her feathers, "I'm the tooth fairy."

If possible, the small child's eyes got larger than they already were and he was bouncing up and down eagerly on his tip-toes, "Oh-oh-oh! That's why you can fl... fl..." a great big yawn opened his mouth, stretching the little string holding the pull over's hood up and it fell back to his shoulders to reveal spiked, short, snow-white hair.

"Fly." Jackie yawned again and plopped himself down on the ice-right in the middle of the pond, not even hesitating about it, as if it were completely natural to sleep in ten below zero degree weather. To him, it probably was. The toddler laid his head on his folded hands, closing his eyes sleepily and blinking owlishly at her towering form.

"I'm gonna go ta sleep now, but since its my house you should probaly go home." Ah, the bluntness of childhood. Toothiana laughed to herself and hovered slightly over the pond. Of course Jack would call this little clearing his home even as a child.

"Hmmm... would you like to come see my house? Or my friend's house? My friend is Santa Claus..." like all children, Jackie's eyes lit up like fireworks, his energy renewed.

"Oh I would like that a lot, Miss Fairy!" suddenly he was up and ready to go, grabbing onto her leg feathers eagerly.

"Ok, you can come with me, Jackie, but you have to be good on the long ride there, ok?" He nodded simply and they were off.

Jack, or little Jackie, showed signs of staying up the whole ride for a while but eventually sleep overtook him. Dreamsand hovered over him in indistinguishable patterns while she flew them through Nova Scotia. Toothiana could admit, if this adorable a picture came with every human child standard issue, she understood completely how there were so many children in the world. He curled his fist into her feathers and held on, pressing his face to her shoulder while she cradled him gently in her arms.

So cute. The effect was only made more adorable by his white hair and imperviousness to cold weather-the wind was making him a very becoming shade of light blue, normal sleepy flush on a normal human baby.

The Tooth Fairy touched down on the landing strip of the North Pole official runway, trying not to rouse the sleeping toddler. When asked on the way through Alberta, Jackie had said he was all of 'two and three-quarters years old.' The little bit more of talking they did before he fell into slumberland consisted of him telling her how lonely he was with nobody to play with. The wind would only pick him up about six inches from the ground before placing him back down and he didn't know where the town was, so that was out.

She changed her grip, balancing the baby on her hip, one arm, and his face pressed to the other shoulder. Knocking on the door to the workshop, she could hear all the flurry of activity simply cease beyond the wooden door. Finally it opened and revealed Phil, who took one look at her and the baby and let her in, wiping a hand down his face.

North's office was kind of warm for this time of year, even for her, so she put out a few coals with her wings fluttering quickly to cool the room for Jackie before sitting on an armchair while Phil went to get the Guardian of Wonder.

Switching the grip again, she cradled Little Jack like she'd seen some mother's do with their little ones when she delivered the very first few teeth seeds in their mouth. His head was on her arm that wrapped around his little body to his knees, then her other arm was underneath said knees and holding him to her chest.

Oh... Babies had always been her weakness. Tooth had been turned into a guardian after her husband-to-be had tossed himself off a cliff-leaving her with no family at all. She had always dreamt of having children of her own, but immortals couldn't get pregnant. She mourned her loss of a future family for centuries before deciding to make the children of the world her surrogate children. Now, though... She couldn't say how long this problem with Jack would last, but at least for a little while maybe she could... Play Mommy like she had wanted to naturally all those years ago.

Jackie turned a little more towards her, making a light baby noise; a squeak almost. Tooth cooed in appreciation, brushing hair back from his face to look at the gentle curve of his not-so-defined face. It was smooth, skinny, and pale-a lot like normal Jack's face-but with that telling air of childhood that signaled a young one was near, kind of like a small glow. Maybe only guardians could see it, she supposed, but for sure she knew that this little boy had a permanent protector on her end.

The foreboding footsteps of North came up through the hall and seeped into the room through the heavy oak door, accompanied by the tell-tale Australian accent of Bunnymund and the softly swishing sound of Sandy's sand robe flaking over the floor. The welcoming committee had arrived.

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**thank you for reading. drop me a review so i know whether or not to delete this story :)**


	2. Introductions

**quick question before we begin: would anyone want to do some art for this? PM me for details because i have one particular vision in my brain i would like somebody with talent to put to paper. :D**

**sorry for the wait, but i was catching up on sleep i missed out on during school. Also, i was wrestling with some minor plotholes in this story. Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed/favorited/followed this thing, i have at least 20 every time i log on in the morning and this one is easily my most reputable story i think. Thank you very much. :)**

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Silence permeated the room, the wide eyes of the three male guardians staring at Toothiana was almost uncomfortable (and it would have been if she hadn't been prepared for it).

"Toothiana," North began, tentatively, "who is that child? And where is Jack?"

Awkwardly, the fairy switched the toddler in her arms to the cradle of her crossed legs-a method she'd seen some humans do when their arms grew tired of holding their young. Little Jackie was sound asleep still, kind of remarkable what with the loud and obnoxious way the three men had entered the room. Sandy, looking like he already knew the answer to both of those questions, floated over to stare serenely at the little boy. The sandman left behind Bunnymund and North, both staring still and jaws hanging open as the answer dawned on them.

"Uh... I found him?" She started out.

"Well, crikey, sheila, we can see that!" Bunnymund stage-whispered. Even he could tell that they did not want a restless two year old running around cranky.

Balancing the little white haired tyke's head on her bent knee, crossed over her other leg, Tooth glared at the sarcastic rabbit.

"Man in Moon will know how to fix, yes?" North suggested, already looking a little queesy at having a small child run around the workshop. Despite herself, Tooth desperately hoped that MiM wouldn't know how to fix it... and maybe she could keep little Jackie for a little while. North didn't seem very supportive, but surprisingly Bunny was inching himself closer to the trio. Sandman was already making little figures appear over Jack's head, covering them in sandy snow.

She just shrugged in the end. Maybe MiM would, maybe he wouldn't. Either way it was a good outcome to her, after all. A win-win situation was what those humans called it, if she remembered right. The fairy smiled to herself and brushed some white hair from the sleeping child's face.

The guardians all sat in silence for minutes on end-or rather, everyone but North, who stood in the doorway frozen solid for most of the time and then abruptly left. He was probably going to work on some toys for the upcoming Christmas Day or going to search for a cure for Jack's predicament.

When more silent minutes had passed by, Bunnymund awkwardly reached his hands out in a 'gimme' gesture, coupled with the curling of the hands that usually meant 'hurry up'. Tooth considered being stingy, hogging the adorable mass of goo to herself, but eventually handed him to Bunny... who immediately let his head fall back. Toothiana smacked her forehead and then lifted his tiny head up, giving the rabbit a nasty look.

"Hold his head up like this," she adjusted his hands, "or he'll wake up." Bunnymund did as he was told and held the boy gingerly in his arms. This version of Jack was much quieter and sweeter than the normal one-much less likely to cause a roaring blizzard, he was sure. He had always had a soft spot for the younger of the children he catered to on Easter and throughout the year. They were so uncoordinated and had a hard time finding the most easy to find eggs that it was hard not to like them. They squealed when they found each and every egg and their belief in him was the most invigorating.

Bunny had his ten minutes of holding before Sandy was making the same gesture at him, a hand appearing above his head to point at Bunny and then back at him.

"Oh alright, you bugger. Don't forget to 'support his head'," Sandy's arms barely reached all the way around the toddler's body, so he crafted some longer tendrils out of sand to hold him. He smiled brightly down at the winter spirit. Children at Jack's age right now needed lots of sleep, so he spent countless hours bringing naptime to overworked parents and hushing them to sleep in the middle of the night. Jack as a teen often didn't sleep, like many adolescents, and his immortality and endurance just made him better at staying awake longer. Rarely did any one of them see him sleep-or eat for that matter. Sandy suspected that he didn't need much of anything to survive because he had already been dead when he was made into a spirit by MiM.

Jack had been sleeping for a while now, Tooth though. How long had the little guy been up and running until she found him? Their Jack never slept a wink if he could help it, and hardly ever around them. She hummed to herself as the weather outside took a turn for the worse, Jackie's eyes crinkling open. He yawned and reached up to rub his eyes with balled up fists, face scrunching up with the light of the room hitting him. The white haired boy took one look around him at the golden guy holding him, the giant bunny, and Toothiana, and automatically stretching his arms out to the Guardian of Memories.

He was obviously still very tired, like most people after a nap, and wrapped his arms around her quietly. It seemed this Jackie was going to be like teen Jack-sometimes a little chatterbox and othertimes silent as a church mouse. The other two guardians looked at him sitting in her arms jealously; he was just too cute.

"Hello, Jack-"

"M'name's Jack_ie_," he said obstinately, sticking his tongue out at Bunnymund, who had addressed him. Startled, Bunny let loose a loud laugh that surprised even him.

"Sorry. Jackie, then. My name's Bunny and this here is Sandy, " He jerked a thumb over at Sanderson, who waved each finger individually at the little boy. Bright blue eyes went impossibly large as he shook the offered paw (only one finger of it, his hands were so small) and then Sandy's hand dwarfed his only by a little.

"You're a real big bunny."

"That I am, mate. I'm a special bunny though," he winked, "I'm the Easter Bunny." No recognition showed in the boy's face for an entire minute, slowly diminishing Bunny's fondness for the kid already. But then his little, pale face lit up excitedly.

"You hide the eggs in the morning? Why do you hide eggs? Do bunnies lay eggs? Do you paint them all yourself or do you have helpers like Santa's elves? Do you have elves? Do you-" Toothiana's laughter and Sandy's silent, hearty shaking and turning summersaults in the air distracted Jackie from his questions. Soon enough, Bunny joined in and Jackie, not really knowing what was funny, found himself giggling alongside them.

When the laughter died down, Tooth gestured at the sandman, "Sandy over there makes you go to sleep. He's the one who leaves the stuff in your eyes when you wake up," she poked his nose playfully, watching him scrunch it up and try to grab at her hand. Jackie sniffled a few times, wiggling his nose, and then started taking big breaths in...

"Ah... Ah... Ah-choo!" his little body tried to fling itself away from Tooth but she held fast, getting a cold blast of air rushing over her head. When the noise finally died down, the three looked around them while Jackie rubbed his nose. The direction he'd sneezed covered everything on that side of the room in a thin layer of frost and put out the fire.

"Oh this is going to be great fun, mates," Bunny said, as the moon began to rise and Phil came through the door to beckon them to join North on the observation deck.

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**its a little shorter than the first chapter, so sorry about that. It was also uneventful. double sorry XD but this is meant to be more of a fluff piece than have any sort of actual plot. Thanks for reading and all that good stuff. I really didn't think this would get that much attention.**

**I'll state my query here again in case people only read the bottom note: are there any artists out there willing to do some artwork for this thing? It's not a very lengthy piece, which is what usually gets the art, but it is 'aww' worthy i think. PM me if you're interested in doing a scene for me :3**


	3. Manny's Words

**i should be studying for my sociology final... but i just don't want to. its so dreadful. sorry for the longer-than-average delay in updates. i've been so tired and the little restaurant i work at went out of business this weekend. excuses, i know. ;o**

**i've got a couple of plotholes in here actually... i just noticed them thanks to one of you lovely reviewers. The White Grim also did a little bit of art for me as well, so shoot her a thank you and i invite you to view it.**

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The observation room was bright. Almost too bright, actually, Tooth thought. It might even be brighter than Jackie's hair when the sun hits it, but that would be a long-shot The boy that brought them all into the room to be blinded was sitting quite calmly in her arms, probably still sleepy. His eyes were drooping and one of his hands was clenched loosely in her shoulder feathers while the other was stuffed inside his hoodie pocket.

"Place child off to side, yes? Manny would like to speak with us," North's booming voice called out to them as they walked in. 'Manny' was shining largely in the sky outside the large skylight. Tooth gave North a look and put Jack in his big desk chair with a soft command to stay there until she came back. The toddler nodded serenely and began to play with the ice train sculpture, not paying the adults any mind even though one was looking at him with barely concealed annoyance. Bunnymund punched Santa in the shoulder and they all took their places around the outskirts of the circle.

Listening with baited breath, the four guardians looked at the bright moon with adoration and curiosity, waiting for him to greet them.

_Greetings, my Guardians. _

"Hello, MiM," Toothiana started them out, "I'm afraid we've got no time for chatting today, sadly. Something's happened to Jack, you see, and we don't know how to reverse it... Also, do you know where his staff is? I didn't see it with him when I got him from his lake," she said all this in one breath, panting a little at the end.

_The child has the staff on his person... _(a sigh echoes through their thoughts as he 'speaks' to them) _Pitch has been wreaking havoc on the world and I fear he will make another uprising someday. Nonetheless, we must return Jack to his original state. Unfortunately, I cannot do so. _

North sighed audibly from his side of the circle, getting dirty looks from Tooth and Bunny while Sandy just chuckled silently, shaking up and down a little. Toothiana however couldn't be happier. She got to keep Jackie for a little while longer-

_I can do one thing, though. Place the child on the center tile._

A little disheartened, the queen of the fairies walked over to the playing child and, when he smiled up at her and reached his arms up, placed him into her own arms and hurried back to the center of the room. She placed the nearly albino kid on the tile and stepped back to her place, gesturing at Jackie for him to stay there and be quiet with a finger to her lips.

MiM's light made Jackie look almost ethereal. His hair was an even paler shade of white, luminescent where it hadn't been before. Slowly the light got brighter and brighter until they couldn't look at him anymore, only wait to see what would happen after Manny was finished.

Finally, nearly ten minutes later, the light faded and revealed... the same little boy that was just inside the aura. 'How anticlimactic,' Bunnymund thought and nudged Sandy toward the boy who was starting to stand up. Sandy was about as tall as little Jackie now that he wasn't flying, and the toddler laughingly patted him on the head on his way back toward Tooth. She bent down to pick him up again just as North spoke.

"Manny, I see no difference. The child is still child... what has changed?"

_Instead of leaving Pitch's curse permanent, I have rendered it temporary... Where your problems caused by Pitch disappeared a short time later, this is much more difficult magic. Jackson will return to his original age in two weeks..._

They each heard a sigh again-Manny was running out of energy to speak to them. Quickly they decreased the diameter of the circle, coming closer together so he wouldn't have to spread as far outward to speak. Jack cast his eyes up at the moon innocently, squinting at the bright light and wondering why everyone was looking at the moon like it was talking.

_Do not let harm befall the child in this state. He must return to being Jack Frost equally-or perhaps more-innocent and childlike as he was before or his Guardianship could come to an end... The Guardian of Fun must not be filled with bitterness or stagnancy, of this you must be sure. Farewell, my Children..._

They each waved at Manny as he disappeared, running from the sun. Jack was playing with Baby Tooth, fluttering around him and twittering.

"So Jackie, where is your staff? The moon said you had it with you," Tooth began, finding it a little funny.

"What's a staff?" Jackie asked curiously, looking up at her from his holding of Baby Tooth's wing between his fingers.

"It's like a stick with a bent top," Bunnymund supplied, leaning in closer to the little tyke.

"I got a stick!" Jackie yelled, reaching into his hoodie pocket and brandishing a small, gnarled stick. It looked like one of those baby trees that grow in the most obnoxious places, with the root still hanging off of it even though all the dirt had been scraped off. Sandy stifled his laugh at North's look of horror that the child still had his power conduit and Bunny's bemused look.

"Can you do anything with that, mate?"

"Uh huh!" Jackie swung it around and trails of frost came out of the tip, spiraling across window panes and following the flow of the archways that opened to each room.

The four sighed and shook their heads-this chore just got a little harder to take care of. How does one take care of a super-powered toddler running amok in Santa's workshop?

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**soooooo short. I'm sorry. I've slightly lost inspiration-winter is always hard on me. i've gotta start taking D vitamins again -.- thank you all for the reviews/favorites/follows, and sorry for not making this longer or fluffier. This one was more plotty and i was trying to fill those plotholes i spoke about earlier. Thanks again for reading!**


	4. Asleepytimes

**i'm so so so so so sorry. i warned you guys that i'm terrible at updating chapter fics, but this is really low for me. i usually update once every couple of days but its been like a week... sorry again. as for this chapter, i wanted to resolve the tension involving North because so many people were curious. i have to admit, it wasn't meant to intrigue as much as it did XD**

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Already nearing dawn, little Jackie was looking mighty tired. He had yawned a grand total of twelve times in half as many minutes and was constantly rubbing his eyes with big fists. Sandy sat near him and was slowly sprinkling sand over the child's head. The others were standing by the ornate windows off to the side of the large room, talking. North had his arms defensively crossed over his chest while the two hounded him.

"Do you got some sort o' problem wit' the tyke, mate?"

"Yeah! Why are you so grumpy? I thought you liked Jack?"

Santa looked decidedly uncomfortable with all their questions, deciding instead to shuffle uncharacteristically from foot to foot. He kept glancing over at Sandy and their young charge (now rubbing both eyes and yawning at the same time, very impressive) and shaking his head slightly. Finally, after an age of glaring, the two got their answer.

"Children not supposed to see workshop. Is magic place for imagination to make up. Spoiling for the child goes against all I believe in," he said with finality.

Bunny and Tooth looked at him like he'd grown a second head-Jackie probably didn't even care that they were in Santa's workshop. Although Tooth had lured him here with the promise of Santa... but he hadn't mentioned anything yet. They all turned to look at him with Sandy once more. His face was pressed into the line of his stick, curled into a ball on the circular area rug by North's desk. Sandy was giving him some pleasant dreams-cows it looked like.

"Mate, that's Jack. He may be a wee one right now, but when he's normal he is still a child and you don't have a problem letting him in then," Bunnymund crossed his arms over his furry chest, leading the conversation away from how cute the image in the corner was.

"Is not the same. Jack Frost, if he were still human, would be reaching the end of his Santa days if he hadn't already in his mortal life. This _Jackie_ is still the type to make cookies and wait forever at night to see man in sleigh. To spoil something so precious is wrong."

"But North, are you worried about him not believing any more or not living up to expectations? He will return to his original age sooner or later, so there's no chance of him spoiling the surprise for other children," Tooth stated logically. If North were worried about not meeting the expectations of a two year old, there was a problem.

"Is not point. Vat if he sees elves and the yetis and believes Santa does not, in fact, deliver or make toys? He will call me a fraud!" North was obviously very worried about this-he'd completely forgot about all the toys he'd made over the year; the countless blizzards he'd flown through to deliver them; and the magical experiences he gave the children when he flew just out of sight or ate a couple cookies.

"North, I don't know if you know this, mate, but the mortals tell their children about Santa's elves all the time. They are actually the ones who build _all_ the toys in their stories. You could use this as an opportunity to prove those rumors wrong," Bunnymund said hopefully, starting to walk over to the knocked out toddler.

Nick rubbed his beard thoughtfully, already making up schemes to prove Santa's worth to the small child. He snapped his finger and bowled past Bunny, gently picking up the sleeping Jack. As everyone knows, the rougher you are with sleeping children, the less likely they are to wake up. North held the kid in front of him with hands underneath the kid's arms, beaming at the lolling head leant forward.

"Christmas will be same never again for you, young one!" He boasted, starting to twirl around with Jackie extended in front of him. When he swished by Bunny, the perturbed pooka snatched the child of winter out of his hands.

"Well, looks like we've got two children to look after now," Bunny muttered to a giggling Tooth, who stood off to the side worriedly looking at the rapidly spinning North-who didn't seem to notice hid partner had been revoked.

"I think we should put the tyke to bed. Just a thought, sheila."

"I believe you are right. I'll fly him off to bed now, then. We'll stay here, then? North, do you think the elves could rig up a crib or something? I don't think he'd like a nest like my fairies..."

North nodded and shouted out the door for just that request, and they all started down the hall to the guest rooms. Jack had one in this wing; it was done up in shades of blue and white, large bay windows curving around the far wall with a window seat and bookshelves took up the wall parallel to the bed-who would have known that a teenage Jack Frost liked books? The only reason North knew was because he had asked Jack what he wanted for Christmas. He was going to overlook the Naughty List for once and Jack had given him the oddest answer.

"Books! Lots of them! I like not having to steal them. Mysteries are the funnest."

Well... he would be reading children's books with one of them for the next few weeks. No chapter books, certainly, North chuckled to himself. They all stood around the room for 15 minutes while waiting for the crib to be delivered.

At last, Phil bumbled through the door lugging a hefty crib. Not enough time had passed for even them to paint the whole thing, but there were stencil-painted on snowflakes specking the bars and ends. They scooted the bed against some empty space in the corner of the room and Bunny set the youngest (now even younger than before) member of their group inside.

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**if you guys would like to make requests for activities for them to do, that would be amazing. anything you want to see in the fourteen days, i'll take it. (14 days starting chapter 5, ok? XD)**

**grahhhhh would you guys be mad if i told you that all but the last 3 paragraphs have been written since last monday? . i'm terrible, really i am.**


	5. Days 3 and 5

**so... sorry? i got 10 days off school so i spent them not doing ANYTHING. seriously. i find i write better when i know i should be doing other things. I got lots of reviews, which does make me feel bad for not updating in so long, but i did warn you guys in chapter 1 that i shouldn't do chapter stories XD**

**anyway, thank you for still hanging in there. i've taken your suggestions to heart and have chosen quite a few to do. i prefer myself some motherly!tooth/jack in here so we're not gonna play doctor or anything, guys.**

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**Day 3**

"No bath."

A fat lip poked out from a deeply set pout. White hair fell in a mop of slightly damp hair, dangling strand by strand in front of squinted blue eyes. Jackie didn't like water, it seemed. Phil grunted in irritation.

"Hrrmph hrrr hurrr!"

"No! No bath!" Sandy poked his head around the doorframe inquisitively, catching Jack's eye, "and no NAP!"

Phils paws met his face with a wet 'slap' sound, echoing in the tiled room. The poor yeti was becoming terribly frustrated. The water in the tub was partially frozen, slushy on the top and left about three inches of actual water in the bottom.

"Jackie."

The little boy in question uncrossed his arms and opened his eyes wider, taking on a look of innocence as he turned back toward the door where Tooth was standing.

"Hello, Tooth-ana. Why are you here?" He gave her a disarming smile, brandishing a couple pearly white teeth. Well, they would be pearly if it hadn't been for Bunny handing him a handful of chocolate eggs earlier that day. The reason he needed a bath was because not only were his teeth plastered with the thick milk chocolate, but it was practically plastered to his face, hands, and arms.

"Jack. Let Phil give you a bath. You are filthy." and the pout came back, but the little boy obediently steps back to Phil as he refills the freezing tub. He'd just finished cramming all the slush down the drain with warm water, and now they were going to ruin his work again.

"Phil, use cold water. I read somewhere that it freezes slower than warm," Tooth says helpfully, and when Phil can actually wash the little brat-quickly still, but he's clean-he's glad she gave him that little tip. Jackie sat calmly in the cold water, it wasn't even frosting over (that was good, even though the frigid liquid was freezing _his_ fur together... whatever). Jack had one of North's ice trains-and Phil would be the one to take the heat for that one, just wait-and a cliche rubber ducky. The duck was bright yellow and had the most devious mustache on it. A few of the older believers had wanted one. Things with big mustaches were all the rage.

When all the chocolate was finally gone, and the water starting to turn slushy, Phil lifted a squirming, miniature Jack Frost out of the cold water to cries of, "No! We have to deliver the cargo!" and "Mr. Duck is very mad!"

The yeti sighed, releasing the now semi-dry and fully naked child to run into the hall. It was _not_ his perogative if the child escaped. He only had to care for him until bath time was over.

Laughter echoed down the hall and the slap of damp feet on wood preceded the pale child running past the door... but oh for heaven's sake! Phil slammed the door shut before the kid could come back, huddling on the toilet seat and shivering. Why did that human child like him so much?

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**Day 5- playtime with Sandy**

Jackie was hopping about on the port side, heckling the birds flying beneath them in the night sky. Sandy hummed silently to himself as they flew across the lands below. Distracting Jackie during daytime at the pole was sometimes hard, so Sandy had volunteered to take him to the opposite side of the world for their nighttime and let him burn off some energy.

"Sandy, arr, I'm a pirate! Look at my fancy hat!" and he did, but Jack's hat was literally a pile of snow with impaled icecicles piercing the top. It looked more like the Statue of Liberty's crown than a pirate hat... though it was fancy, he'd give him that.

The sandman gave a thumbs up and a big grin to the child of winter, prompting him to run around giggling and peeking out over the edge. Sandy hopped towards him and poked a finger in his face, waggling it with a disapproving look for seemingly the fifth time that night. He couldn't seem to stay away from the side of the ship.

Floating away, Sandy sent some sand over Tibet, sighing as it spread out and danced into the little huts and other houses throughout the mountains. Jack was a busy little guy, even on a pirate ship. Or was it especially on a pirate ship? Hm. The things he had to think about. The last few days with Jackie had been mostly uneventful, filled with baths and chocolate, naps and playtime, snowball fights and a few time-outs.

Minutes went by smoothly, Sandy spreading the sand everywhere across Asia and smoothing out some ripples in his sand-railing, before he noticed it. 'It' was the all-encompassing silence around him. It was that silence that came after a child that you were watching went into another room. You couldn't even hear them playing or laughing after a few minutes, and that's when you knew they'd done something.

Sandy turned around slowly. There, on the gangplank, stood Jackie. He was bouncing on the loose board projection and looking over the edge into the clouds below. Sandy's mouth opened in a silent shout, sand hands stretching out to grab him, but they were too late. Jackie had walked the plank.

Sandy floated faster than Pitch's fearlings over to the side, scouring the clouds view for sight of the small child in a small hope that he'd grabbed onto the rigging hanging over the side, but he was not there. Sandy hung his head in sadness at the implications.

Peels of laughter brought his eyes back up. There, sweeping through the masts on the breeze, was a small, white haired child and he was practically squealing as he was whipped to and fro by the wind. It seemed the wind, even when Jack wasn't his normal self and hadn't spoken to him in a few days, was a loyal and safe caretaker.

Sandy breathed a sigh of relief and held back from reprimanding the boy when he finally landed on the starbard side of the boat. With a last look at Russia's vast expanse, he blew a giant handful of sand towards the ground below and set course for the North Pole. They'd been out too long, it seemed.

* * *

**there is an update, and sorry again for the big wait. D: my bad. also, spelling errors are my bad, though i did check and reread this.**


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